Misty Copeland is the first African American woman to become a principal dancer for the American Ballet Theatre. She began learning ballet when she was thirteen, which is usually considered a bit late. Her family’s financial situation made it difficult for her to begin her dance studies, but once she started, it was only a few months before she moved up en pointe and became a young prodigy. She played a lead role in The Nutcracker just eight months after starting ballet, and was performing on a professional level shortly after that. This was absolutely unheard of amongst classical dancers, as many ballerinas spend their whole lives training to reach that point. She drew lots of media attention and quickly became a prominent figure in ballet.
“The path to your success is not as fixed and inflexible as you think.”
—Misty Copeland
This excerpt is from The Book of Awesome Girls by Becca Anderson, which is available now through Amazon and Mango Media.
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